Just use 'edit' to add your addition, quote or clarify statements, and to add your name at the bottom (you need to log into website to do this. Will only take 2 mins max). Will be sent to the ODT on Friday 5th December, or before? Please note, part of the quote attributed to Scott (me) at the start is taken from the Transition Town homepage ("Our aim is to re-localise our communities, making them vibrant, resilient and truly sustainable"). James's succinct words, not mine.

Press Release

International Day of Action on Climate Change, 6th December, 2008

A range of local groups will be highlighting the issues of climate change and peak oil this weekend to mark the International Day of Action on Climate Change on Saturday December 6.

Local Dunedin groups (SolarAction, Get The Train, Waitati Energy Project, Waitati Edible Gardens and the coastal protection group; Tomahawk -Smaills Beach Care Trust and more) will have information stalls outside the Otago Farmers’ Market at the Dunedin railway station parking lot.

The International Day of Action on Climate Change coincides with United Nations climate conference in the Polish city of Poznan. The conference will hammer out agreements on various issues in the run-up to next year's conference in Copenhagen where a new document will be drafted to take the place of the Kyoto Protocol.

Waitati organiser Scott Willis said: “Our aim is to re-localise our communities, making them vibrant, resilient and truly sustainable, and to work together as progressive global citizens from Dunedin and surrounding areas to take rapid, effective and enduring action on Climate Change and Peak Oil. We think the challenges we face provide us with an exciting opportunity to strengthen our communities and to model the way to a wealthier, more equitable and just society.”

“This is no time to be complacent. By working together we can make practical progress today"

Local Green MP Metiria Turei is appalled by the lack of action at a national level. "If we don't act soon we will miss the boat. Our two biggest industries Agriculture and Tourism are depend on our clean green image. Dithering will not only further endanger our wildlife, but will also hit ordinary Kiwis in the back pocket."

Sustainable Dunedin City Inc. (SDC) would like to see Dunedin in particular rising to the challenge. Committee member Paul Young said "SDC believes that Dunedin has the potential to be a role-model for New Zealand cities, leading the way in adapting to a low-carbon future. This will require strong leadership from our councils, combined with the actions of passionate groups and individuals."

The vision is shared by the Dunedin Secondary School Climate Forum (DSSCF), says organiser Jinty MacTavish: "The DSSCF's 2008 Vision and Communique to Councils called for a more self-sufficient and sustainable future for Dunedin city. It was signed by over half of Dunedin's secondary school students, showing how concerned our young people are about the impact of climate change on our city. It is essential that we engage young people in the sustainability conversation - it is they who will feel the full impact of decisions made today."

The Otago Polytechnic is leading the way in building regional capability for sustainable living, says Otago Polytechnic CEO Phil Ker:  "From 2009 all Otago Polytechnic graduates will be educated as sustainable practitioners in their chosen trade or profession.  Next year we will help build community capability by hosting targeted workshops with community groups, our expert staff, students, local government and industry.  I believe the Otago region has a bright future leading with sustainability."

Local food groups are also supporting the call to highlight the issue of climate change. “In response to climate change we must support more local and sustainable forms of agriculture. We must work to strengthen our local food culture and make Dunedin a more sustainable city,” Slow Food Otago spokesperson Geoffrey Craig said.

An individual Waitati valley resident, Murray Soal, talking about climate change said "Whether we believe in it or not, the consequences of it are too bloody scary to think about. I want to leave some of the planet for my grandkids".

Willis said the aim was to build a sustainable, resilient city and community of communities. We look to local government to host working parties with group members, staff, and councillors to accellerate action in the following areas:

1. Food: we need to develop greater local food production and shorten the food chain. We need to facilitate access to land for those who lack sufficient space, and we need to foster strong community and intergenerational networks to allow social buffers and efficient knowledge transfer.

2. Water: we need to preserve our limited water supplies and use water more carefully and efficiently. We need controls on heavy water use technologies and appliances, and activities that degrade our water supplies. We need to support efficiency measures such as rainwater harvesting, dry toilets, and low use systems. We need effective consultation on any change in water supply.

3. Energy: we need to rapidly develop a plan to reduce our dependence on oil, and actively reduce our energy use, through existing technologies and actions such as building retrofit and efficiency devices and practices. Our infrastructure should reflect this direction, and we need to actively work towards a decentralised, renewable energy generation system, able to be isolated from the grid if required.

4. Transport: we need to manage the risk of obsolescence of the personal combustion engine and build effective, efficient and integrated public transport, including electric rail, light-rail, electric and/or bio-fuel buses and cycleways. We also need to work with central government to link our local public transport service to the national network.

5. Resources: we need to ensure we do not consume more than our share and leave enough for future generations. We need inclusive governance and monitoring structures, and to provide for collective resource guardianship in such areas as fisheries, forestry, quarries, minerals, etc.

6. Information: our efforts need to be coordinated and communicated. We need to fund and facilitate diverse autonomous action within a general framework of transition to low energy lifestyles in a positive and creative manner. We are practicing the use of open systems of dialogue and open forums to support responsive, adaptive strategy in decision-making.

7. Infrastructure: we need to identify essential and non-essential infrastructure and develop a strategy for each element such as rail, roading, drains and pipelines, wave-barriers, electricity distribution in conjunction with infrastructure partners.

8. Waste: we need to reduce the amount of waste that is currently going to landfill. This means not only dealing with end-of-pipe but also with the source. To do this we must consult with supermarkets and retailers to support a levy on all excess packaging, such as plastic bags, polystyrene packaging and other non-recyclable plastics.

We are:

Waitati Energy Project: (Scott Willis: 4795327/4822249)

BAGS NOT plastic bags Project: (Nicola Bould: 4728947)

Harbour Cycle Network: (Steve Walker: 472 8409)

Port Chalmers Community Garden Project: (Nicola Bould: 472 8947)

City Rise Couchsurfing (Ben Knight: 02102325433)

Metiria Turia, local Green Party MP (Luke Stewart 477 8502)

Member of Waitati Valley WC (Murray Soal)

Deputy-Chair of the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board (Geraldine Tait 4822517)

Get The Train (Danielle Cameron 482 1233)

Waitati Edible Gardeners (Lucy Jack 03 482 1773)

Solar Action (Tim Bishop 021 295 4880)

Sustainable Dunedin City (Paul Young 0274188841)

Dunedin Secondary School Climate Forum (Jinty MacTavish 0212319197)

Otago Polytechnic (Phil Ker 0800 762 786)

W3 Ride Share (Jackie Fanning 03 482 1517)